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Battle Royale (Movie)

From Virtual Japan

Battle Royale (Batoru Rowaiaru) is a full-length film that was released in Japan in 2000. It was directed by Kinji Fukasaku, a man known in Japan for his innovative directing style. Battale Royale is based on a novel that was written by Koushun Takami. The book quickly became one of the best selling novels in Japan, due to its controversial nature. The movie became just as controversial as the book and quickly garnered the attention of critics. A sequel, Battle Royale II: Requiem, was released in 2003.

Synopsis

Shuya Nanahara is a young boy who lives in Tokyo. His background is sad, as his mother has abandoned him and his father has committed suicide. Because of his background, he has little care for his life or for the authority of others. His best friend, Nobu, stabs a teacher named Kitano. A young girl named Noriko Nakagawa finds the knife that was used in the attack and hides it from the authorities. Kitano decides to leave the school and resigns immediately.

The students are about to go on a yearly field trip, when they are all gassed and taken away to a deserted island. While they are passed out, they are each fitted with a metal collar. They find that they have been kidnapped by their old teacher, Kitano. Kitano is working with the government to help bring schools back under control. He tells them that one school every year is chosen to participate in a game known as Battle Royale. The students are supposed to try to kill each other. The last one left alive, wins. They have three days in which to do this. If there is no clear winner after three days, everybody dies. The collars around their necks are actually explosive devices. Just to prove that they are serious, Kitano decides to kill Nobu, the teenager that attacked him. Each student is then given a weapon and a survival pack and the game is on!

Shuya decides that he will protect Noriko in Nobu’s honor, as Nobu had a crush on her. They both partner up with a boy named Shogo Kawada. He has played the game before and is out to avenge his girlfriend’s death. The class president Yukie Utsumi, hides in an old lighthouse with a group of girls. Shinji Mimura decides that he is going to blow up the entire school, in order to kill everyone all at once. Kazuo Kiriyama loves to kill and does so with ease, while Mitsuko Souma decides that she wants to win the game and will stop at nothing to do so.

Eventually the only students left are Shuya, Noriko, and Kawada are left alive. Kawada tells his new friends that he knows how to disable the collars and fakes their deaths. He strolls up to the school and is proclaimed to be the winner. He tells Kitano that Shuya and Noriko are still alive, and they appear. Kitano is actually happy that Noriko is alive, as he has come to love her like a daughter. Kitano ends up dying and the three head for land, but Kawada dies of his injuries. Shuya and Noriko end up on their own, chased after as murderers.